The Big Ten is in the middle of its best run in the NCAA Tournament as a conference... probably ever?

The league might not produce this year’s national champion, but what the conference’s teams have accomplished in the postseason can’t be understated. From a historic 10-0 start to the second weekend, it’s a good year to be Big.

Just one of the conference’s teams is set to play on Thursday, 4-seed Maryland. There’s a level on intrigue around the game with questions about Kevin Willard’s future as the Terrapins’ head coach swirling with Villanova opening up as a potential landing spot.

But that’s for another time. Let’s talk about the game.

It’s a 4v1 matchup for the right to advance to the Elite Eight. Once you’re there, just about anything can happen, but Maryland has to get past Florida first.

The Terps are only here in the first place thanks to late game heroics from star freshman big man Derik Queen, who lifted Maryland over Colorado State in the closing seconds of a Round of 32 matchup with a buzzer beating jumper he just banked in off a drive.

There was plenty of Big Ten flavor there too. He was guarded by former Purdue Boilermaker Ethan Morton and gave Minnesota a chance to hire the Rams’ head coach, Niko Medved, just a bit earlier.

When Maryland is on, it’s ON. The Terps are one of the very best teams in the country when they’re at their best with a starting five capable of hanging with just about anyone. The bench isn’t much to write home about but holds things down on the defensive end of the court.

Defense is where this team’s strengths lie. The Terps are No. 6 nationally in KenPom’s efficiency metrics on that side of the court where they’re especially proficient at guarding the 3-point line.

Offensively, they have enough firepower in the starting five to win ballgames between Queen and a backcourt of Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice and Selton Miguel. Julian Reese provides a steady presence as a double digit scorer and rebounder.

On the other side of things is Florida, one of the very best teams in the country and probably the hottest one entering March play after storming through the SEC Tournament.

The Gators are an outrageously good basketball team. At 32-4 and ranked No. 3 overall in KenPom (Maryland is No. 10, btw, so this is a top-ten matchup), the resume just about speaks for itself.

There are very few things Florida doesn’t do well. They do the same great job on the perimeter that Maryland does if not better. They’re not far behind the Terps with the 10th highest-rated defense nationally.

The Gators play great, modern basketball that’s difficult to guard and hold up defensively. They can absolutely win the national championship.

This is going to come down to a few things. I think Florida just... has the edge in a few categories. The Gators are more battle-tested too.